skip navigation

Moline and Marske Lead Verona to State Semi-finals

By Del Scanlon, WiPH, 02/24/23, 11:15PM CST

Share

Solid Goaltending and Team Tenacity Wins for Wildcats

The Sectional Three final featured two hockey powerhouses from the state capital area, the Crusaders from Madison Edgewood and the Wildcats from Verona. Both teams have played in the state tournament at the Alliant Energy Center, both wanted to play in the state tournament at Bob Suter's Capitol Ice Arena in Middleton next week. That opportunity would go to the winner at Sun Prairie Ice Arena.

The Wildcats quickness was on display from the drop of the opening puck. Lars Brtozman passed the puck forward from his defensive zone to Cael Pertzborn. Pertzborn chipped it off the boards to Jack Marske. Marske cruised past the player's bench,  took a shot from the lower part of the circle to beat Rowan White and gave Verona a 1-0 lead at 3:22 of the first. Verona's second goal came at 5:44. This time Marske found Reece Cordray along the board to White's left. Cordray fired the puck in front of the crease, where Conrad Moline redirected it past White for the goal. Verona picked up a penalty for elbowing at 11:12 putting the Crusaders on the power play. Cordray poked the puck away from Edgewood in neutral ice and it was picked up by Moline. Moline skated in and put a quick wrist shot into the back of the net to give the Wildcats a 3-0 lead at 12:58 of the first. The Wildcats picked up another elbowing penalty with 1:44 remaining in the first, but held on for a 3-0 lead at the end of one period.

The second period saw Verona finish killing off the penalty, but they picked up an interference penalty at 1:03. Owen Porter moved the puck down to Davis Halbleib to the right of Craven. Halbleib found Paul Sergenian on the backdoor for a power play goal to make the score 3-1 for Verona. Edgewood picked up a penalty for roughing at 4:42 and kept Verona from capitalizing on the opportunity. The second period ended with the score 3-1.

The third period saw both teams be accessed with two penalties. The first two were coincidental minors when Edgewood was called for interference and Verona picked up a call for holding at 5:10 of the third period. Edgewood was called for holding at 6:37 of the third and put the Wildcats on the power play. The penalty ended up not being of any harm as the Crusaders killed it off. The Wildcats were called for a high-sticking penalty with 3:46 remaining in regulation. Edgewood pressured Craven, but were not able to get the puck past him. The Crusaders pulled their goaltender at 15:33 of the third. Lars Brotzman picked up his second assist as he passed the puck to Garrison Codde. Codde flicked the puck into the air and it found its way into the empty net with 5.3 seconds showing on the clock.

Rowan White finished the game with 27 saves, while Blake Craven had 24 saves.

Games of the Week

Put a game highlight widget here. 

 Article Text

WiPH Game Summaries